Leadership Development in Students: Teachers' Opinions ...

[Pages:11]Universal Journal of Educational Research 5(2): 217-227, 2017 DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2017.050207



Leadership Development in Students: Teachers' Opinions Regarding Activities that can be Performed at Schools

Hanifi Parlar1, Muhammet Emin T?rkolu2,*, Ramazan Cansoy3

1Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Istanbul Commerce University, Sutluce Campus, Turkey 2Faculty of Education, Afyon Kocatepe University, Ahmet Necdet Sezer Campus, Turkey 3Faculty of Literature, Karabuk University, Karabuk, Turkey

Copyright?2017 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License

Abstract This study aims to examine teachers' opinions

regarding the activities that can be performed at schools to ensure leadership development in students. Accordingly, an attempt to reveal what the leadership qualities of students should be, the activities that can be performed for the acquisition of leadership qualities and the applicability level of these activities was made within the scope of the present study. This study is a descriptive study designed in mixed model. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative research methods were used together in the present study. The study was carried out with 13 teachers in the qualitative part and with 304 teachers in the quantitative part. While the data were collected by a semi-structured interview in the qualitative part of the study, the "Teachers' Activities for the Acquisition of Leadership Qualities in Students Questionnaire" was used in the quantitative part. Results showed that activities should be performed for in-class and out-of-class purposes and the conceptual understanding of leadership for the acquisition of leadership qualities; and that these studies were at the applicable level. Furthermore, it was found out that to make students acquire communication skills, problem-solving skills, responsibility, honesty and ability to set goals are important. In this context, the findings obtained from the present study were discussed in relation to the relevant literature and some suggestions were proposed.

Keywords Leadership Activities at Schools, Leadership

Development in Students, Leadership Development, Leadership Qualities, Student Leadership

1. Introduction

Schools are the places where students are prepared for the life and their problem-solving capacities are developed. Therefore, to create leadership capacity for the solution of these problems has a critical importance [36]. However, it is

seen that the opportunities that will improve the leadership qualities of students at schools are inadequate [7] and that students can acquire leadership experiences to a certain level in everyday life [22]. It is possible to ensure the development of the leadership qualities of students who spend most of their time at schools by creating different opportunities at schools. Teachers are the most important actors that can create these opportunities. However, it is seen that leadership qualities of students and their reflections at school and class level are not (cannot be) addressed by teachers sufficiently [11, 16]. Activities for developing leadership qualities of students are increasingly gaining more importance in the solution of the problems related to education [22]. Therefore, investigation of leadership qualities that teachers want to see in their students and applicability levels of the activities for the development of these qualities can be regarded as significant. Understanding teachers' opinions regarding the applicability levels of the activities that can improve leadership qualities in students may contribute to the effectiveness of applications to be performed in this direction at schools.

When studies investigating the leadership qualities in students are examined, it is seen that most of them aim to determine the leadership levels and qualities in students [5, 9, 10, 12, 21, 23, 39, 42, 47, 49]. In this context, investigation of leadership qualities in students according to teachers' opinions and the ways of improving these qualities inside and outside the school is believed to contribute to the literature. Furthermore, it is thought that the relevant study can provide significant findings to practitioners and policymakers for the activities that can be performed inside and outside the school to improve the leadership qualities of students.

1.1. Leadership Qualities Seen in Students and Studies to Develop these Qualities

Students have leadership qualities that can be seen in different age groups. These qualities can be sorted as

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Leadership Development in Students: Teachers' Opinions Regarding Activities that can be Performed at Schools

problem-solving skills [3, 27] goal setting [3], decision-making skills [19], group skills [1], communication skills [34, 53], and leadership knowledge [18]. When children at early ages are observed, showing abilities at the perfect level in different fields, having a high potential in a certain field, having some innate abilities, having behaviors different from the other students, having high motivation beyond the expectation of the teacher cause them to make higher progress than other peers in one or more academic fields [30]. When the social skills of school-age children are examined, it is seen that problem-solving, teamwork, goal setting, decision making, time management and effective communication come to the forefront as determining leadership qualities [17, 25, 48]. Qualities such as trust, honesty, respect, responsibility, decisesiveness, courage and communication skills are observed during the adolescence period [19, 35]. Although the leadership qualities of students vary according to age groups, it can be said that they have some common leadership qualities. Therefore, a number of common methods can be used by teachers for the development of these leadership qualities.

Studies for in-class and out-of-class purposes, and for the conceptual understanding of leadership can be performed by teachers to make students acquire leadership qualities. Within the context of in-class activities, programs from which each student can benefit and they can benefit from different opportunities can be arranged during courses [27]. It is possible to ensure that students gain problem-solving, planning and organizing, analytical thinking experiences along with a number of different social projects [28]. The activities of solving a current problem, planning an activity, setting up a team, completing homework, doing a time planning, publishing a newspaper at school and making free speech to express their own opinions that can be performed during a course in line with the context of the course ensure the development of leadership qualities [22]. A number of extracurricular activities may provide the positive development of leadership skills [29, 43]. Participation in sports activities, one of the extracurricular activities, provides the development of leadership qualities [6, 24]. Furthermore, to create leadership opportunities and to give students responsibility in different student organizations such as school council and sports teams positively improve the leadership qualities [13]. Therefore, it can be said that the participation of students in different sports activities and their engagement in duties in which they take different responsibilities improve their group skills and contribute to leadership. Finally, it is seen that the conceptual understanding of leadership by students is important in the development of leadership qualities. In this context, the biographies of great leaders can be read and discussed by watching the related films at schools to understand leadership [8]. It is stated that having knowledge about leaders and leadership in different models is effective in leadership development [19]. Osteen, Owen, Komives, Mainella and Longerbeam [40] state that leadership is an identity and the person creates his/her own leadership identity within the process. Based on these statements, it can

be argued that applications for understanding in-class and extracurricular activities and leadership have the potential to improve the leadership qualities in students.

According to ad and ahiner [44], nowadays, exam-oriented systems and the consequences such as stress and anxiety caused by these exams intensely engage the agenda of parents, students, and teachers. Such examination systems raise one-way individuals, and therefore it is important to put forward the applications that can be performed to raise students with different leadership qualities. It is necessary to determine the opinions of teachers regarding the applicability levels of the activities that can be performed for the acquisition of leadership qualities by students, who will take place in different fields in the future, for the sustainability of these developments. At the same time, revealing activities for students to acquire leadership qualities will help in-class and extracurricular applications and planning to be performed for the leadership development at schools. Moreover, to put forward the most important leadership qualities that should be acquired by students from the perspective of teachers may be indicative in education programs to be held for the development of these qualities.

1.2. Research Questions

When it is considered that the studies carried out in leadership qualities of students are limited, research results are expected to contribute to the literature. In this context, while research questions 1 and 3 were discussed within the quantitative context, research question, question 2 was discussed within the qualitative context. Findings of the research questions can be found at 3.1., 3.2. and 3.3. In the study, the answers to the following questions were searched:

1. According to the teachers, what are the leadership qualities that students should have?

2. What are the opinions of the teachers regarding the activities that can be performed to make students acquire leadership qualities?

3. What are the opinions of the teachers regarding the applicability levels of the activities that can be performed to make students acquire leadership qualities?

2. Method

In the method part, research model, participants, data collection tools, data collection and data analysis of the study will be explained.

2.1. Research Model

This study is a descriptive study and was designed in mixed model. In the study, it was aimed to determine the leadership qualities in students according to teachers' opinions, reveal the activities that can be performed by students to acquire leadership qualities and reveal the applicability level of these activities. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative research methods were

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219

combined in the same study. This study was prepared in mixed model in which exploratory mixed methods were applied. The qualitative study and quantitative study were carried out, respectively. According to Cresswell [14], the qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined in the same study in studies carried out with the mixed method. In this study, interviews were firstly conducted with teachers at schools. Then, the questionnaire which was prepared according to the results obtained from these interviews was applied to a larger group of teachers. Finally, the findings were reported.

2.2. Participants

In the qualitative part of the study, the convenient sampling method, one of purposeful sampling methods, was used in determining the participants in the qualitative part of the study. Researchers chose a private high school in Usk?dar district of Istanbul for their study for some certain reasons. Firstly, it was close to them and easy to access. Secondly, the school was running some leadership activities and the teachers were interested in leadership qualities of their students. Thirdly, the school administration gave permission to the study. According to Yildirim and imek [51], the convenient sampling method is used in cases where there is no possibility to use other sampling methods. 13 private school teachers working both as a teacher and a head of the department at different campuses of a private school participated in the qualitative part of the study. 6 (46%) of the teachers who participated in the study were female, and 7 (54%) of them were male. The average age of the teachers was 33 years.

In the quantitative part, the study was conducted at state schools. Primary, secondary and high school teachers working in ?sk?dar district of Istanbul province in the 2015-2016 academic year constituted the participants of the quantitative dimension of the study. 304 teachers in ?sk?dar district constituted the participants of the study. 184 (60%) of the participants were female, and 120 (40%) of them were male. 95 (31%) primary school teachers, 85 (28%) secondary school teachers and 124 (41%) high school teachers participated in the study.

2.3. Data Collection Tools

In the qualitative part of the study, a semi-structured interview form was employed for the data collection. Both pre-prepared questions and additional questions can be asked in this approach [51]. These questions focus on what needs to be done for the acquisition of leadership qualities in students. The questions are about what the activities that can be performed in the classroom for the acquisition of leadership qualities and the activities that can be performed outside the classroom can be under two main headings.

In the quantitative part of the study, "Teachers' Activities for the Acquisition of Leadership Qualities in Students Questionnaire" which was prepared by the researchers was used as the quantitative data collection tool of this study. For the questionnaire, the relevant literature was firstly reviewed

by all authors who participated in the study. Besides, the findings obtained as a result of the interviews conducted with the teachers were also used while creating the relevant questionnaire. Then, the questionnaire form was finalized by receiving opinions from three domain experts, one of whom was working in the assessment and evaluation field and the other two of whom were working in the educational administration and inspection field. The questionnaire consists of 3 parts. The first part includes demographic information about teachers' gender and school type. 15 leadership qualities that need to be gained by students are given in the second part. In the third part, the applicability levels of in-class and out-of-class activities for the acquisition of leadership qualities in students were asked. The questionnaire form was prepared in the Likert-type with a 5-point rating from "(1) Never applicable" to "(5) Completely Applicable". At the final stage, a 15-item questionnaire in total was made ready after it had been examined by the experts and necessary corrections had been made. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was calculated to be .87.

2.4. Data Collection and Analysis (Qualitative)

The interview form prepared for the collection of the data was developed by the researchers after reviewing the required literature, and expert opinion was received for its validity. Interviews were conducted with the participants by editing it in line with the expert opinions. Interviews were conducted during the working hours within an appropriate time period in the offices of the heads of departments. These interviews lasted for an average of 2 hours. During the interviews, the questions of "What kinds of activities should be performed inside the classroom, outside the classroom and across the school to make students acquire leadership qualities?" were asked separately. Also, additional questions were used when needed. The answers received at this time were noted by the researchers. Findings were achieved by applying the content analysis to the data obtained from the notes. According to Yildirim and imek [51], similar data are combined within the scope of certain concepts and themes in the content analysis, and readers are ensured to interpret them in a way that they can understand. In the study, at first, the data from the teachers were separately coded by the researchers. While coding was performed, the process was carried out by examining whether the data expressed in words, sentences and paragraphs were collected within a certain conceptual framework which consisted of carefully selected items from the literature regarding leadership qualities of students. The list of the codes obtained after all data were encoded in this way was carefully analyzed by the researchers. Secondly, themes were created by considering the similarities and differences of the codes obtained. At the third stage, the obtained themes were defined and edited by making them comprehensible. Finally, comments regarding the edited themes were made and the conclusions were achieved. In the interviews conducted with the teachers, the participants were

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named "teacher", and each one was given a number. Some strategies were used for the validity and reliability

of the study. These strategies were carried out with the methods appropriate to the nature of the qualitative study. According to Lincoln and Guba [31], the concepts of credibility and transferability are used instead of internal and external validity, and the concepts of consistency and verifiability are used instead of internal and external reliability in qualitative studies. The researchers gave some details about the institution where they would do research to ensure credibility and also monitored the studies performed by teachers for students. In conclusion, they decided that data collection from this institution was appropriate. The researchers used direct quotations in accordance with the nature of the data to ensure transferability. In the examinations performed to ensure consistency, 3 researchers reached the findings by mutually questioning similar and common aspects in terms of consistency at all stages of the collection and coding of the data and formation of the themes, and the results were explained. 3 external researchers who were expert in the field were consulted for verifiability. The experts analyzed the raw data, checked the themes extracted from the codes, and evaluated and confirmed the conclusion obtained in the conclusion and discussion section.

2.5. Data Collection and Analysis (Quantitative)

The teachers were asked to choose the leadership qualities that they considered as most important among the leadership qualities that need to be acquired by students, in the questionnaire form. The total scores were evaluated by giving 1 point to each of the selected quality. The

distribution percentages (%), averages ( x ) and standard

deviations (S) of the teachers' opinions regarding the applicability levels of the activities for students to acquire leadership qualities are given. The score ranges of 5.00-4.21 "Completely"; 4,20-3.41 "Mostly"; 3.40-2.61 "Partially"; 2.60-1.81 "little"; 1.80-1.00 "never" were used in the interpretation of the data. SPSS packaged software was used in the analysis of the data.

3. Findings and Interpretation

In this part, findings related to the qualitative and quantitative parts of the study and interpretations will be presented.

3.1. Findings Regarding the Leadership Qualities that Students should Have According to the Teachers' Opinions

Figure 1. Leadership qualities that need to be gained by students according to the teachers' opinions

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Figure 2. Activities for students to acquire leadership qualities

Table 1. Teachers' opinions on the applicability levels of the activities for the acquisition of leadership qualities

In-class activities

x

S

Never Little Partially

%

%

%

Mostly %

Courses should be taught with different teaching methods.

3.9

.8

0.7

3.9

23.7

44.7

Students should be made to perform theater and drama during the courses.

3.6

1.1

2.3 13.8 26.6

34.2

Students should be made to give group presentation during the courses.

3.8

.9

0.3

7.2

27.3

39.5

Students should be made to design projects within the scope of the courses.

4.1

.9

0.3

3.3

22.7

35.9

Students should be made to give individual presentations during the courses.

3.9

1.

1.3

8.6

19.7

37.5

Out-of-class activities

Workplace visits should be made with students.

3.1

1.1

4.6 26.6 34.5

19.1

Importance should be placed on club studies across the school.

4.1

.9

0.7

4.9

15.8

39.1

Debate competitions should be held across the school.

3.8

.9

0.3

8.2

29.3

36.8

School-wide information and culture competitions should be held.

4.0

.9

1

5.3

19.1

42.4

Students should produce social responsibility projects.

4.0

.9

1.3

4.3

21.4

39.1

Activities for the understanding of the leadership

Students should be made to read books on leadership.

3.8

.9

0.7

6.3

30.9

40.1

Teachers should be given training on leadership.

4.1

1.0

1.3

5.6

15.1

33.2

Alive leader figures should be introduced.

4.0

.9

1.0

4.6

23.4

32.6

Socially responsible scientists, businessmen, artists, and academicians should make presentations at schools.

4.0

.9

1.0

4.3

22.0

34.9

The biographies of leading figures in history should be shared with students.

4.2

.9

-

4.6

17.8

33.9

Completely %

26.0 22.7 24.0 37.2 31.9

14.5 39.1 24.3 32.2 32.2

21.1 44.1 37.8 37.5 43.4

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Leadership Development in Students: Teachers' Opinions Regarding Activities that can be Performed at Schools

The findings which were obtained as a result of examining the leadership qualities that students need to gain according to the teachers are presented in Figure 1. The number of teachers who chose the relevant quality for each quality can be seen in the table. According to the teachers, communication skills (181), problem-solving skills (175), responsibility (154), honesty (135) goal setting(92), critical thinking skills (79), empathy skills (74), decisesiveness (73), self-knowledge(58), recognizing and managing emotions (54), motivation (52) and courage (12) were considered among the important leadership qualities that should be brought to students, by the order of importance of leadership qualities that should be brought to students. According to these findings, the most important leadership qualities that should be brought to students are communication skills, problem-solving skills, having a responsibility, honesty and being able to set goals, critical thinking skills, empathy, being determined, self-knowledge, recognizing and managing feelings, motivation and being brave, respectively.

3.2. Findings Regarding the Teachers' Opinions on the Activities that can be Performed for the Acquisition of Leadership Qualities in Students:

The teachers' opinions regarding the acquisition of leadership qualities were examined in 3 categories. These are the activities that can be performed in the classroom, the activities that can be performed outside the classroom, and the activities that can be performed for the understanding of leadership. According to the results obtained from the qualitative and quantitative parts of this study, the teachers' activities that can be performed for the acquisition of leadership qualities by students are presented in Figure 2.

It is seen that the teachers who expressed opinions for the "activities that can be performed in the classroom" for the acquisition of leadership qualities mainly proposed activities that would motivate students and make them active within the framework of a student-centered understanding. The teachers stated that it is important to create leadership opportunities for each student individually and to bring deeper thinking skills about leadership. Besides, the teachers emphasized that it is important to offer opportunities for students to express themselves better as an individual and that students need to receive education in areas that will develop different perspectives to recognize themselves and what is happening around them. The teachers consider the use of different teaching methods and techniques during the course for the students' acquisition of leadership qualities to be effective in terms of actively involving them into courses.

Teacher 4: "Courses should not be in the form of monolog during which only teacher talks, students should be made to speak as more as possible in a way to express their opinions. Students should be encouraged to take the floor and talk. Students should be asked for their opinions on every subject, some things should not be forced." Teacher 3: "Critical analytical thinking courses

can be given or taught to students." Teacher 5: "In science, mathematics, Turkish, social studies and English courses in primary education, students should be provided to present their performance tasks in the classroom environment as the time permits, they should be assessed in the presence of the class, and the accurate techniques should be demonstrated. Effective presentation techniques can be given as of the 6th grade." Teacher 1: "Media literacy education could be provided. With this education, we can aim to be individuals who can evaluate the knowledge and use it in place regardless of its source and to raise such individuals.". Teacher 6: "As one of the essential conditions of being a leader is to be self-confident, the most important factor to be observed in all activities to be performed is to lay emphasis on what children can do not on what they cannot do."

The teachers who expressed opinions for the activities that can be performed outside of the classroom for the acquisition of leadership qualities stated that it would be beneficial to perform various social activities including helping the poor, fulfilling responsibilities towards the environment, and visiting associations or organizations that may create social awareness in students. Furthermore, it is seen that the activities to be organized within the context of the opinions expressed by the students have come to the forefront. In other words, the creation of environments in which students can freely express themselves by teachers, performing social project studies, placing importance on club activities at schools, and making students active in decision-making processes at school or in the classroom are considered important.

Teacher 7: "Aid campaigns, sister school projects can be considered within this context... For instance, helping the poor, reading books for T?rkan Sabanci Visually Impaired School students, the books can be written on the computer to adapt to their alphabet." Teacher 9: "Sister families can be determined. It is possible to raise money and allow children themselves to help those families. They can personally see people's living conditions and give them presents." Teacher 12: "The school's student council should be employed, students' opinions should be received, students should be given positive or negative feedbacks about the decisions taken." Teacher 13: "School council and presidential elections can be activated. For instance, students who consider becoming a candidate may be asked to prepare a file about what they think to do, electoral speeches can be given. After being elected, they can be expected to start a work to plan and put into force what they mentioned in their file."

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Teacher 6: "Club activities should be planned professionally and implemented seriously for students to discover themselves correctly and to have a say in the community. For instance, such as Drama club, Philosophy Thinking Club, Civil Defense, First Aid, Entrepreneurship and Scouting Club..."

According to the statements of the teachers who expressed opinions for the understanding of the leadership for the acquisition of leadership qualities, the facts that the leadership should be understood conceptually by parents, teachers, and students in the acquisition of leadership qualities in students and that the activities for it could be beneficial have come to the forefront. It was stated by the teachers that organizing conceptual framework providing and application-oriented programs about leadership at schools would be useful. Besides, they stated that different presentations and activities about the lives of leaders who have made history and can serve as a model for the students could be performed. In addition, it was stated that visiting the parents who have come to the forefront by their leadership qualities in the society or inviting them to school to give information on certain issues could be useful in terms of the development of leadership qualities in students.

Teacher 8 : "Concrete and good examples who have made history and become prominent with their leadership should be shown to students. The leadership styles of these people should be emphasized." Teacher 5 : "Information about the lives of leaders can be given. This can be performed by getting students watch movies, prepare presentations or a speech. It is possible to give students homework in the form of assuming the role of a leader, making a presentation about the leader like that person, and preparing a documentary." Teacher 9: "Unlike occupational presentation seminars, people who can be considered as a leader in their field can be invited to the school. Scientists, businessmen, artists, and academicians can be provided to make representations at schools." Teacher 1: "Leadership training courses in the form of in-service training that last all the year round can be provided for our teachers." Teacher 4: "Visits to the parents, who are considered to be significant in terms of the qualities related to leadership, can be arranged with teachers. Thus, the fact that students see their environment and works may affect students in terms of gaining leadership qualities."

3.3. Findings Regarding the Teachers' Opinions on the Applicability Levels of the Activities that can be Performed for the Acquisition of Leadership Qualities in Students

The findings obtained from the qualitative part of the

study are summarized as follows. The teachers stated the

activities that can be performed for the acquisition of

leadership qualities by students as the activities that can be

performed in the classroom, the activities that can be

performed outside the classroom, and the activities for the

understanding of leadership. Based on these findings, it was

intended to investigate the applicability levels of the

activities to bring students leadership qualities in the

quantitative part of the study. Findings which were obtained

from the questions asked to the teachers for this purpose are

presented in Table 1. As it is seen in Table 1, the activities that can be

performed to bring students with leadership qualities are grouped into three main categories. These are in-class activities, out-of-class activities, and the activities for the understanding of the leadership. The teachers' opinions regarding the application of in-class classroom activities to provide students with leadership qualities are as following; it was seen that they mostly found the applicability levels of the activities of "Students should be made to design projects

within the scope of the courses." ( x =4.1), "Students should

be made to perform theater and drama during the courses."

( x =3.6) "Courses should be taught with different teaching methods. " ( x =3.9) "Students should be made to give group presentation during the courses." ( x =3.8) and "Students

should be made to perform theater and drama during the

courses." ( x =3.6) at the applicable levels.

It can be stated that the teachers mostly found the in-class

classroom activities that can be performed for students to

gain leadership qualities to be at the applicable levels. The teachers' opinions regarding the application of

out-of-class activities to provide students with leadership qualities are as following; it was seen that they partially found the activity of "Workplace visits should be made with

students." ( x =3.1) at the applicable level, and they mostly

found the activities of "Importance should be placed on club

studies across the school." ( x =4.1), "Debate competitions should be held across the school." ( x =3.8) , "School-wide

information and culture competitions should be held."

( x =4.0), "Students should produce social responsibility projects." ( x =4.0) at the applicable levels. It can be stated

that the teachers mostly found the out-of-class activities that can be performed for students to gain leadership qualities to be at the applicable levels.

The teachers' opinions regarding the applicability of activities for the understanding of the leadership to provide students with leadership qualities are as following; it was seen that they mostly found the activities of "Students should

be made to read books on leadership." ( x =3.8), "Teachers should be given training on leadership." ( x =4.1), "Alive leader figures should be introduced." ( x =4.0), "Socially

responsible scientists, businessmen, artists, and academicians should make presentations at schools."

( x =4.0) and "The biographies of leading figures in history should be shared with students." ( x =4.2) to be at the

applicable levels. It can be stated that the teachers mostly found the activities for the understanding of the leadership to

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Leadership Development in Students: Teachers' Opinions Regarding Activities that can be Performed at Schools

provide students with leadership qualities to be at the applicable levels.

4. Discussion, Conclusion, and Suggestions

In this study, it was seen that the most important leadership qualities that should be brought to students according to the teachers' opinions are communication skills, problem-solving skills, responsibility, honesty, and goal setting, respectively. It is seen that the concepts of problem-solving skills [3, 28], goal setting [3], effective communication skills [17,25,53], honesty [19, 35] are also among the leadership qualities that can be seen in students in different age groups in the literature. To provide students with communication skills is considered significant in different studies, similar to the findings in the present study [15,33, 50]. To be able to communicate comfortably in writing or verbally, to try to carefully listen and understand others, and to be able to take decisions together are among the important leadership qualities [2]. The communication skills of students may not have sufficiently developed due to the emergence of loneliness and individualization along with technology and due to test-oriented and teacher-centered education systems. In this context, it can be said that the activities for the improvement of communication skills in students will be beneficial. Problem-solving is among the important leadership qualities that should be brought to students. Identification of a problem, suggesting appropriate solutions and controlling the solutions are among the important steps of problem-solving [38]. The problem in students' problem-solving skills also manifests itself in international exams. While Turkish students who take the exam have a ratio of 2.2% in terms of the advanced problem-solving capability in the Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] exams, this ratio is around 28% in South Korea [45]. Therefore, it can be said that problem-solving skills need to be developed.

In the present study, another leadership quality which is considered to be brought to students by teachers is responsibility. In the studies carried out on leadership, it is seen that responsibility is an important leadership quality [37]. It can be said that the fact that students control their own behaviors, fulfill the assigned duties and act with this consciousness constitute the basis of responsibility. The fact that students are aware of their responsibilities given at schools or daily life is important for them to gain leadership qualities. In the study, honesty was considered among the important leadership qualities that should be brought to students, according to the teachers. Individuals' behaviors are based on certain values and the strength of their characters are important to be honest [2, 37, 52]. Honesty is important in terms of having personality ethics and living in peace with his/her own values [46]. Finally, in the study, it was revealed that goal setting is among the important leadership qualities that should be brought to students.

People with leadership qualities know what they want [7, 37]. Improving students' goal setting at early ages can make it easier for them to plan for the future in different areas and increase their effectiveness. Based on the results of the study, it can be said that studies should be carried out for students to acquire communication skills, problem-solving skills, responsibility, honesty and ability goal setting. Besides, it can be concluded by teachers that they have not been adequately perceived in terms of the qualities of communication skills, problem-solving skills, responsibility, honesty and ability to set goals. Therefore, why teachers need that these leadership qualities should be developed in students can be investigated by different studies.

According to the results obtained in the study, teachers proposed activities that could be performed in three different areas for students to acquire leadership qualities. These are the activities that can be performed inside the classroom, the activities that can be performed outside the classroom, and the activities that can be performed for the conceptual understanding of leadership. The activities that can be performed inside the classroom are suggested to be planned in a way to effectively involve students into studies, create leadership opportunities within the course and use different teaching methods. Regarding the activities that can be performed outside the classroom, social service projects, club activities and studies that can create a leadership position for students are suggested. According to the opinions for the understanding leadership, it was stated that families, teachers, and students need to understand the concept of leadership correctly in bringing students with leadership qualities. Therefore, it is important to present people who have come to the forefront with their leadership qualities in history, carry out studies about the leaders who are alive and perform activities for the conceptual understanding of leadership. There are some studies that support these results [13, 19, 22, 29, 43]. It can be seen that the implementation of these three proposed activities at schools is important because students who spend most of their time at schools can be expected to focus more on learning and multi-dimensional development processes.

It was aimed to reveal the applicability levels of the activities that can be performed for students to acquire leadership qualities in the quantitative part of the study. According to the results obtained from the quantitative part, the applicability levels of the activities that can be performed for students to acquire leadership qualities were examined in three different categories. These are the activities that can be performed in the classroom, the activities that can be performed outside the classroom, and the activities aimed at providing a conceptual understanding of leadership. It was stated that making students perform theater studies and projects according to the course type, making them give active presentations and teaching the courses with different teaching methods, which are among the activities that can be performed in the classroom, were mostly at the applicable level. Club activities and school-wide information and culture competitions, which are among the activities that can

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